(OOTP) First In War, First In Peace, First in the AL?

[SirFozzie]

Dateline: Washington D.C.
October 25th, 1960

Well, sports fans, say good bye to the staid ol'American League as the 8 team league, adding two new teams, the Los Angeles Angels, and the newly reformed Washington Senators. The two teams officially debuted this week selecting 35 players in the first expansion draft. Young Senators GM David Donovan said that while he was pleased with his team's selections, "The good people of Washington DC want a winner, and with ownership's blessing, I have been given a goodly amount of money to spend in the Free Agent Market, and we will be making a splash."


Drafted 1B B. Skinner in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 1, Pick 2, 2nd overall Pick).
Drafted 2B W. Shannon in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 2, Pick 1, 3rd overall Pick).
Drafted MR A. Earley in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 3, Pick 2, 6th overall Pick).
Drafted 1B G. Kolb in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 4, Pick 1, 7th overall Pick).
Drafted SP R. Necciai in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 5, Pick 2, 10th overall Pick).
Drafted SP E. Wilson in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 6, Pick 1, 11th overall Pick).
Drafted CF W. Tasby in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 7, Pick 2, 14th overall Pick).
Drafted SP B. Muffett in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 8, Pick 1, 15th overall Pick).
Drafted C B. Hall in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 9, Pick 2, 18th overall Pick).
Drafted RF J. Reed in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 10, Pick 1, 19th overall Pick).
Drafted SP D. Skaugstad in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 11, Pick 2, 22nd overall Pick).
Drafted SS J. Amalfitano in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 12, Pick 1, 23rd overall Pick).
Drafted 3B J. Finigan in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 13, Pick 2, 26th overall Pick).
Drafted SP B. Cain in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 14, Pick 1, 27th overall Pick).
Drafted LF J. Christopher in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 15, Pick 2, 30th overall Pick).
Drafted MR A. Schroll in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 16, Pick 1, 31st overall Pick).
Drafted MR A. Downing in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 17, Pick 2, 34th overall Pick).
Drafted CL W. Wood in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 18, Pick 1, 35th overall Pick).
Drafted C J. Schaffer in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 19, Pick 2, 38th overall Pick).
Drafted MR G. Arrigo in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 20, Pick 1, 39th overall Pick).
Drafted SP E. Grba in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 21, Pick 2, 42nd overall Pick).
Drafted LF B. Cerv in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 22, Pick 1, 43rd overall Pick).
Drafted 2B F. Mantilla in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 23, Pick 2, 46th overall Pick).
Drafted 2B B. Moran in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 24, Pick 1, 47th overall Pick).
Drafted 1B B. Zipfel in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 25, Pick 2, 50th overall Pick).
Drafted RF B. Morton in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 26, Pick 1, 51st overall Pick).
Drafted LF D. Taussig in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 27, Pick 2, 54th overall Pick).
Drafted MR C. Osteen in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 28, Pick 1, 55th overall Pick).
Drafted 2B K. Aspromonte in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 29, Pick 2, 58th overall Pick).
Drafted SS J. Logan in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 30, Pick 1, 59th overall Pick).
Drafted 1B B. Hale in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 31, Pick 2, 62nd overall Pick).
Drafted CF D. Dobbek in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 32, Pick 1, 63rd overall Pick).
Drafted 3B J. McKnight in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 33, Pick 2, 66th overall Pick).
Drafted C S. Taylor in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 34, Pick 1, 67th overall Pick).
Drafted MR J. Tsitouris in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 35, Pick 2, 70th overall Pick).

[SirFozzie]

Dateline: Washington, D.C.
December 29th, 1960

Just weeks before John F. Kennedy takes the oath of office, the Washington Senators threaten to push JFK right off the front page, as they have signed two of the biggest names in Free Agency, pitcher Karl Spooner, and megastar outfielder Mickey Mantle.

"The fans want the big names, and they do not want to wait patiently while we build them a winner" stated GM David Donovan.

The 29 year old Spooner, who won the 1960 Cy Young Award, going 21-5, with a 2.16 ERA for the Kansas City Athletics received an unheard of SEVEN Year contract, at nearly $715,000 a year, but he's not even going to be the biggest paid star on the Senators, as Mickey Mantle will be the first player in Baseball history to be paid over a million dollars in one season, as he will earn a shade more then $1,100,000. (2nd place is Duke Snider at $985,000)

"Hopefully, the fans will come out and see the Mick slam that ball over the fence often" stated Donovan.

[SirFozzie]

Well, the Senators will draw #'s, but I fear their first season will be a long one, as here's the breakdown

Starting Rotation
L Karl Spooner (21-5, 2.90)
R Billy Muffet (4-0, 2.47 in Pittsburgh's AAA team)
R Ron Kline (out of baseball Last year)
R Earl Wilson (10-18, 2.63 in Saint Louis's AAA Team)
R Eli Grba (9-8, 2.78 in Milwaukee's AAA Team)

Can the neverweres in the rotation step up? If not, then Spooner's going to have to pitch very often for them to win.


Starting Fielders:

*C Bill Hall (.250, 8, 58)
*1B Bob Skinner (.221, 8, 32)
2B Billy Moran (.247, 3, 37)
3B Joey Amalfitano (.253, 5, 26)
SS Yo-Yo Davalillo (.254, 3, 22)
LF Lenny Green (.248, 4, 44)
**CF Mickey Mantle (.252, 30, 66)
*RF Gary Kolb (.253 in the Minors)

*=Lefty, **=Switch

The Senators are an expansion team, and they will be so for some time to come, but will the fans come out to see Spooner and Mantle?

[SirFozzie]

Well, it's 10 games into the year, and we're 6-4, just a half game out of first (thanks to a three way tie at 7-3 :P). Not a bad start. I thought this team might lose 120 games (and they still might, it's early

We weren't helped when our LF Bob Cerv got another player's glove across his face on opening day, and had blurred vision for three weeks. :P

Mantle's off to a slow start, .167, 1, 3, Spooner is 1-1, 3.94 ERA

[SirFozzie]

From the Radio, 4/25/61

And now.. it's talkin' baseball, with Dizzy Dean!

Sit down my friends, and let the ol'Dizzster pour ya a nice cold Schlitz beer, one of the finest beers it's been my pleasure to drink.. Schlitz beer, the official sponsor of Talkin Baseball With Dizzy Dean!

Well, Dizzsters, and Dizzettes, I've seen many things in all my years travelin around the majors, but this new Washington Senators team? Boy Howdy, I wouldn't believe it unless I saw it with my own two eyes, and even now I'm still havin trouble with it.

This team of has-beens, coulda-beens, and neverweres had a bit of steel in em when they signed The Mick and the Spoon to them, but if you told me before the season that the Senators would win 8 out of their first 12 games, I woulda had them men from the funny farm a huntin you! They've done it on the road too, winning 5 of 6 on the road so far, including yesterday's 15-2 shellackin of the high-faultin Boston Red Sox, at Fenway Park!

How are they doin it? I dunno, but it's not because of no million dollar players right now, it's because some players are havin weeks they'll remember as long as they live. Mickey Mantle, The Mick himself, is just above 200, but he might be a warmin up, I don't see how he couldn't get a mite bit warm with the rest of the team hot as a Georgia farm at high noon!

How about that Bubba Morton! That young man made the major leagues for the first time at age 30, and he gosh darn likes it playin in front of the people he grew up with, as he was the player of the week last week, hittin at a .591 pace with 3 homers to boot! He's only making $16,500, but he's sure playin like a millionaire! I hope that he can continue!

Their pitchin ain't a-nuthin home around, their ERA is up at 4.79 for the year, and if the Dizzster ever had that high an era, you bet the ol'skipper would have a somethin to say about that. But they're patient at the plate, most walks in the league so far, and hittin a cool as a spring mornin .291 at the plate!

I'm sure everybody's hopin that the Senators can keep it up, wouldn't it be a hoot to have some new team of folks you never heard of come in and win it all? But there's a bunch of mighty fine teams in the league this year, but I'm sure that the boys in the Capitol are livin the good life while they can.

Anyway, I need to wet my whistle with another delicious Schlitz Beer. This is Dizzy Dean, and we'll talk some more baseball again real soon!

Just a reminder, you can hear "Talkin Baseball" with Dizzy Dean every day on this fine radio station, sponsored by Schlitz Beer! Cold, Refreshing, who could want anything more from a beer? Make your next one a Schlitz!

[SirFozzie]

http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/mortobu01.shtml

Here's the player Dizzy was referring to

[SirFozzie]

Ouch, a few days later, Bob Skinner, the first ever Washington Senator, at least in this aincarnation (our first expansion pick) tears a muscle in his back, and is out for the rest of the year.

[SirFozzie]

26 games into the year...

Major League 1901 05-08-1961
Standings Report	
American Standings
Team	W	L	PCT	GB	Pyt.Rec	Diff	Home	Away	XInn	1Run	M#	Streak	Last10
Washington Senators	18	8	.692	-	16-10	2	11-4	7-4	2-0	5-2	135	W2	8-2
Chicago White Sox	15	10	.600	2.5	17-8	-2	9-3	6-7	0-0	4-3		L1	5-5
Kansas City Athletics	12	10	.545	4.0	12-10	0	8-5	4-5	0-0	2-2		L1	6-4
Boston Red Sox	12	11	.522	4.5	12-11	0	7-2	5-9	0-0	0-3		L1	5-5
Detroit Tigers	13	12	.520	4.5	13-12	0	10-6	3-6	1-2	2-4		W1	3-7
Baltimore Orioles	13	13	.500	5.0	12-14	1	9-6	4-7	1-3	4-2		W1	4-6
New York Yankees	13	14	.481	5.5	12-15	1	9-2	4-12	3-0	3-5		L3	3-7
Cleveland Indians	10	14	.417	7.0	14-10	-4	4-6	6-8	0-1	1-2		L2	4-6
Los Angeles Angels	9	15	.375	8.0	8-16	1	7-4	2-11	1-3	4-2		W3	7-3
Minnesota Twins	8	16	.333	9.0	8-16	0	4-7	4-9	1-0	3-3		W1	4-6
National Standings
Team	W	L	PCT	GB	Pyt.Rec	Diff	Home	Away	XInn	1Run	M#	Streak	Last10
Philadelphia Phillies	15	10	.600	-	14-11	1	6-4	9-6	2-1	3-1	137	L2	5-5
Chicago Cubs	15	11	.577	.5	15-11	0	7-6	8-5	2-0	4-2		L1	6-4
Cincinnati Reds	13	11	.542	1.5	11-13	2	5-4	8-7	2-1	4-3		L1	5-5
San Francisco Giants	12	11	.522	2.0	13-10	-1	7-5	5-6	1-1	2-4		W2	5-5
Pittsburgh Pirates	11	11	.500	2.5	11-11	0	6-5	5-6	0-2	3-1		W1	4-6
St. Louis Cardinals	10	13	.435	4.0	12-11	-2	6-8	4-5	0-0	1-4		W1	5-5
Milwaukee Braves	9	13	.409	4.5	9-13	0	6-5	3-8	1-2	4-3		W1	5-5
Los Angeles Dodgers	10	15	.400	5.0	11-14	-1	5-10	5-5	0-1	3-6		L1	5-5

[SirFozzie]

We finally do fall back to 33-31 at June 15th, in 5th in the AL, 6.5 back of the White Sox. Then it's draft time..

[SirFozzie]

My 1961 Draft Class

Round 1 (#9), Dennis Bennett http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/bennede01.shtml
Round 2 (#27) Dick "The Monster" Radatz http://www.baseball-reference.com/r/radatdi01.shtml
Round 3 (#45) Bob Tillman http://www.baseball-reference.com/t/tillmbo01.shtml
Round 4 (#63) Bernie Allen http://www.baseball-reference.com/a/allenbe01.shtml
Round 5 (#81) Doug Gallagher http://www.baseball-reference.com/g/gallado01.shtml
Round 6 (#99) Andy Etchebarren http://www.baseball-reference.com/e/etchean01.shtml
Round 7 (#117) Al Weis http://www.baseball-reference.com/w/weisal01.shtml
Round 8 (#135) Mickey McGuire http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/mcguimi01.shtml

Some names I vaguely remember from books and stuff.

[SirFozzie]

I couldn't resist making a trade to pick up someone who I missed in the 1961 draft...

Traded 21-year old minor league reliever Doug Gallagher and 22-year old first baseman Bud Zipfel to the Pittsburgh Pirates, getting 22-year old starting pitcher Jim Bouton in return.

[SirFozzie]

At the All-Star Break, we're above .500 at 45-44, and Mick is our only all star (he's now hitting .320 with 18 homers)

[SirFozzie]

The AL Wins the 1961 All-Star Game, 5-1 over the NL. Little Known Gary Geiger is the MVP

[SirFozzie]

Close to the trade deadline, we ship out Spooner and minor leaguer Gary Kolb to the Cubs for LF Norm Siebler (.334, 21, 84 through 100 games) and reliever Jack Spring. This saves us some money, and with Bouton and Bennett in our rotation, we didn't need Spooner as muchg

[SirFozzie]

We somehow finish 87-75, Tied for fourth in the AL, 12 games back of the winner, and eventual World Champion Detroit Tigers. Not bad for an expansion team

Name	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Bill Hall C	144	590	85	168	22	5	19	82	257	45	71	2	0	.285	.336	.436	.772
Bubba Morton RF	148	560	98	162	37	4	11	76	240	62	102	11	7	.289	.359	.429	.788
Mickey Mantle CF	141	497	108	136	13	3	34	95	257	144	110	25	6	.274	.436	.517	.953
Yo-Yo Davalillo SS	131	479	76	134	20	1	15	78	201	46	37	1	2	.280	.342	.420	.761
Billy Moran 2B	139	410	59	109	19	1	11	66	163	32	58	6	0	.266	.320	.398	.717
Lenny Green LF	134	408	64	95	14	8	2	41	131	57	45	15	6	.233	.333	.321	.654
Joey Amalfitano SS	119	294	35	80	13	2	1	34	100	22	32	6	3	.272	.320	.340	.660
Ken Aspromonte 2B	121	285	33	71	7	0	0	26	78	30	25	0	2	.249	.324	.274	.598
Jim Finigan 3B	98	238	26	63	9	2	5	24	91	22	30	1	1	.265	.324	.382	.707
Norm Siebern LF	60	230	37	68	7	1	11	44	110	38	34	1	0	.296	.391	.478	.869
Joe Garagiola C	55	192	26	64	11	1	10	33	107	23	31	0	0	.333	.406	.557	.963
Jack Reed RF	79	190	27	47	9	4	4	19	76	22	35	10	5	.247	.321	.400	.721
Bernie Allen 2B	59	177	25	41	5	0	6	29	64	28	26	0	0	.232	.333	.362	.695
Bud Zipfel 1B	42	136	17	34	7	2	6	18	63	19	32	1	1	.250	.342	.463	.805
Sammy Taylor C	53	118	17	29	7	0	3	18	45	8	16	0	1	.246	.297	.381	.678
Bob Cerv LF	59	114	17	30	4	1	3	17	45	19	14	1	0	.263	.360	.395	.755
Gil McDougald 3B	43	98	20	29	4	1	5	21	50	14	7	0	1	.296	.386	.510	.896
Billy Muffett SP	34	83	4	9	1	0	0	4	10	5	18	0	0	.108	.169	.120	.289
Bob Skinner 1B	18	78	10	22	3	0	2	14	31	6	15	0	1	.282	.333	.397	.731
Willie Tasby CF	30	62	7	19	3	1	2	13	30	4	15	0	0	.306	.343	.484	.827
Ron Kline SP	31	59	7	13	1	0	3	7	23	1	15	0	0	.220	.246	.390	.636
Jim Bouton SP	21	48	5	7	1	1	1	1	13	3	8	0	0	.146	.196	.271	.467
Karl Spooner SP	23	39	7	13	2	0	0	7	15	4	7	0	0	.333	.378	.385	.762
Dennis Bennett SP	17	36	4	9	1	0	2	7	16	1	10	0	0	.250	.289	.444	.734
Eli Grba MR	32	36	1	5	1	0	0	1	6	1	11	0	0	.139	.162	.167	.329
Earl Wilson SP	23	30	5	6	3	0	1	3	12	4	11	1	0	.200	.294	.400	.694
Joe Christopher LF	16	25	4	9	1	2	0	5	14	3	3	2	0	.360	.414	.560	.974
Leo Cristante MR	34	17	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	8	0	0	.059	.059	.059	.118
Claude Osteen MR	66	17	2	3	1	0	0	0	4	2	4	0	0	.176	.263	.235	.498
Raul Sanchez MR	26	11	2	3	1	0	0	0	4	0	4	0	0	.273	.273	.364	.636
John Tsitouris MR	47	11	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Arnold Earley MR	31	10	1	2	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	0	0	.200	.200	.200	.400
Jack Spring MR	19	7	0	1	1	0	0	2	2	0	2	0	0	.143	.143	.286	.429
Cecil Butler MR	13	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Dick Radatz CL	27	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Al Schroll MR	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Don Taussig LF	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	.000	.500	.000	.500
Gary Kolb 1B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000

Name	W	L	SV	ERA	G	GS	IP	HA	R	ER	HR	BB	K	WHIP	OAVG	BABIP
Dick Radatz CL	1	3	15	2.20	27	1	32.2	26	8	8	1	9	40	1.07	.215	.313
Cecil Butler MR	4	1	3	2.35	13	0	23.0	22	8	6	1	6	25	1.22	.247	.333
Al Schroll MR	0	0	0	2.35	2	0	7.2	11	5	2	0	1	2	1.57	.355	.379
Earl Wilson SP	6	3	1	3.00	23	15	120.0	97	49	40	6	58	73	1.29	.222	.255
Karl Spooner SP	7	7	0	3.34	23	23	129.1	104	55	48	8	59	124	1.26	.219	.280
Raul Sanchez MR	5	1	1	3.48	26	0	41.1	46	25	16	1	24	19	1.69	.286	.319
Jim Bouton SP	11	4	0	3.58	21	21	151.0	141	74	60	9	70	97	1.40	.246	.283
Dennis Bennett SP	9	4	0	3.63	17	17	119.0	101	50	48	15	34	108	1.13	.227	.268
Billy Muffett SP	14	16	0	4.01	34	34	258.0	271	134	115	30	102	132	1.45	.270	.286
John Tsitouris MR	4	3	1	4.37	47	0	57.2	53	33	28	2	28	39	1.40	.243	.288
Arnold Earley MR	3	3	6	4.75	31	0	41.2	36	25	22	2	30	39	1.58	.234	.301
Leo Cristante MR	2	1	0	5.26	34	0	53.0	59	32	31	6	25	22	1.58	.281	.291
Jack Spring MR	4	0	0	5.40	19	0	28.1	28	20	17	5	14	14	1.48	.246	.242
Eli Grba MR	8	8	1	5.44	32	20	129.0	145	89	78	18	71	66	1.67	.292	.308
Claude Osteen MR	4	8	6	5.50	66	0	93.1	119	68	57	17	39	44	1.69	.316	.324
Ron Kline SP	5	13	0	5.72	31	31	176.1	214	126	112	35	83	95	1.68	.297	.303

[SirFozzie]

During the offseason, we get a legend looking for one last season, hopefully, trading 2B Aspromonte to the Pirates, for a RF, you might now, Stan "the Man" Musial?

The good news is that he's just 52 hits from 3000, hopefully he'll stay with us long enough to get it in a Senators uniform